February 2013

R&B star John Legend gave his insights on the need for more educational equality in the U.S. and then thrilled a full Memorial Hall Gymnasium with his unique R&B musical style during the final 2013 Black History Month event at DSU.

Photos by Carlos Holmes

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John Legend put an exclamation mark to Delaware State University’s Black History Month events with an evening of his insightful thoughts on education and the duty of graduates to effect positive change, and of course, a mini-concert of his incomparable soulful music.
Mr. Legend spoke and sang to a nearly full Memorial Hall Gymnasium on Feb. 27 during a 90-minute event attended by folks from both the DSU community and the surrounding Greater Dover area.
For images of the “Evening with John Legend,” click on the below photo slideshow:
Mr. Legend arrived on campus at about 5:15 p.m. and after granting an interview with DSU Hornet, he was taken to the President’s Residence where a reception was being held. There he met DSU’s First Family, members of the DSU Board of Trustees, administrators and student leaders.
During the 7 p.m. main event, Mr. Legend talked about the country’s need to make education equality a priority. He noted the new generations of college graduates have a great responsibility to make positive change in the world.
“DSU graduates are empowered to be great leaders; you are equipped to succeed,” Mr. Legend said. “Use your education to seek the truth. I urge you to embrace your autonomy and power to make a positive impact on the world.”

Jamesa McDonald, the 2012-13 Miss DSU, shows U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper some of the documents that are part of the King Center Imaging Project Exhibition.

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U.S. Senator Tom Carper joined members of the DSU community Feb. 1 in visiting the King Center Imaging Project on the last day of the five-day exhibition of documents and writing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For images of Sen. Carper’s visit, click on the below slideshow of photos:

Delaware State University’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, in conjunction with the U.S. Institute of Peace Public Education Program for Peace Building, will present a lecture series on “Arab Spring and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution during three different dates in February and March.
The guest lectures – which are free and open to the public – will be held on Feb. 7, Feb. 28 and March 21, all at 11 a.m. in the Longwood Auditorium, Bank of American Building (College of Business) on campus.
The guest speaker will be Gustavo Delgado, the research and development chief for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. State Department. Mr. Delgado has also served as the State Department’s director of Strategic Communications, as a senior advisor on humanitarian assistance, as well as the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and other posts during his 26-year career at the federal agency.
The following topics will be featured.
Feb. 7 – The role of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) in conflict resolution during the Arab Spring and its implications for United State national security.
Feb. 28 – The different approaches use by the CSO for non-conflict resolution in diverse cultural settings such as Syria (Southwest Asia/Middle East), Burma (East Asia) and Kenya (East Africa).
March 21 – The implications of the recent violence against the United States embassies/diplomats/citizens in the Islamic world, and what the prospects of non-violent resolutions in such contexts.
For more information, contact Dr. Raymond Tutu at (302) 857-6847 or at rtutu@desu.edu

Tickets are now on sale for “An Evening with John Legend,” a combination speaking engagement and mini-concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27 in the Memorial Hall Gymnasium on the campus of Delaware State University.
John Legend
Tickets are $10 for DSU students and $20 for the general public, and can be purchased online at www.DSUHORNETS.com (Go to the section More from DSU toward the bottom of the home page and click on “An Evening with John Legend”). Tickets can also be purchase at the DSU Ticket Office in Memorial Hall on campus.
For more information, contact the DSU Division of Student Affairs at (302) 857-6300.
Nine-time Grammy Award winner, John Legend is a multi-talented artist known for his signature vocals and songwriting style that has earned him legions of worldwide fans along with a string of Top 10 platinum-selling albums. His albums Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006), and Evolver (2008) each reached #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts. He has collaborated with some of the best in the business and has written for numerous artists on bestselling recordings by artists including Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
John's debut album, Get Lifted, earned eight Grammy nominations; won Best New Artist, Best R&B album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for Ordinary People while selling more than three million copies worldwide. His follow-up album, Once Again, earned an RIAA platinum certification and a Grammy award for "Heaven", which also won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. In 2008, John released Evolver, his third Top 10 album and embarked on an extensive world tour with his ten-piece band.
Most recently, John and the band The Roots released Wake Up! (2010), a compilation of music from the 60's and 70's all with an underlying theme of awareness, engagement and social consciousness which won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. The album is highlighted with tracks like "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway and Baby Huey and the Babysitters' "Hard Times."Wake Up! also includes John's original composition "Shine," which won a Grammy award for Best R&B Song and is featured in Oscar award winner Davis Guggenheim's domestic education reform documentary Waiting for 'Superman.'
Throughout his career, John has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. In 2007, John Legend launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), an initiative that uses education to break the cycle of poverty.
John was awarded the 2010 BET Humanitarian of the Year award, the2009 CARE Humanitarian Award for Global Change, the 2009 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award from Africare, and the 2012 Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year Award.

The late Dr. Donald Byrd in a performance shot during a late 1990s concert at DSU.

Photo by Carlos Holmes

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DSU mourns the death of legendary jazz musician Dr. Donald Byrd, who passed away at age 80 on Feb. 4 in Dover.
In a 2010 photo (l-r) DSU President Harry L. Williams, comedian/activist Dick Gregory and Dr. Donald Byrd, pause for a photo moment during after Mr. Gregory's speaking engagement at the University
Born in 1932 as Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, the renowned American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter was a native of Detroit, Mich. He was twice a Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Delaware State University, in the late 1990s and then again in 2009-2011.
DSU President Harry L. Williams said that the University community is saddened by the passing of the legendary Dr. Byrd and joins the world in mourning his death.
“The renowned musician’s relationship with DSU dates back to the mid-1990s and included two separate artist-in-residence tenures with the University,” Dr. Williams said. “While being a true jazz giant in the world, he has enriched DSU and the community with jazz performances, inspired our students with his musicianship, helped our students stay enrolled though his establishment of a scholarship endowment, and supported other fundraising efforts on campus.”
Dr. Byrd was sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, but he was best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a jazz artist. Byrd attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school.
After playing in a military band during a term in the United States Air Force, he obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music. While still at the Manhattan School, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as replacement for Clifford Brown (who briefly attended then-Delaware State College).
In 1955, he recorded with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron. After leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with many leading jazz musicians of the day, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and later Herbie Hancock. Dr. Byrd's first regular group was a quintet that he co-led from 1958-61 with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, an ensemble whose hard-driving performances are captured "live" on At the Half Note Cafe.
In June 1964, Dr. Byrd jammed with multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy in Paris just two weeks before Dolphy's death from insulin shock. In the 1970s, Byrd moved away from the hard-bop jazz idiom and began to record jazz fusion and rhythm and blues. He teamed up with the Mizell Brothers (producer-writers Larry and Fonce) for Black Byrd (1973), which became the best-selling Blue Note album. The title track climbed to No. 19 on Billboard's R&B chart and reached the Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at No. 88. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Dr. Byrd, Street Lady, Places and Spaces, and Stepping Into Tomorrow, were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples for acid jazz artists such as Us3.
Most of the material for the albums was written by Larry Mizell. In 1973, he created The Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (No. 3 R&B, No. 19 pop), "Walking In Rhythm" (No. 4 R&B, No. 6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park."
During his tenure at North Carolina Central University during the 1980s, he formed a group that included students from the college called Donald Byrd & the 125th St NYC Band. They recorded the Love Byrd album, this being one of Dr. Byrd's last highlights in his jazz funk phase which featured Isaac Hayes on drums. The album had a couple dance grooves, including the hit and garage classic "Love has come around." Recorded on Elektra records and released as a single in September 1981, it became a big disco hit in the UK and reached #41 on the chart.
He taught at Rutgers University, the Hampton Institute, New York University, Howard University, Queens College, Oberlin College, Cornell University and North Carolina Central University as well as DSU.
In addition to his master's from Manhattan School of Music, the jazz artist had two master's degrees from Columbia University. He received a law degree in 1976 and his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in 1982.
In 2009, the jazz giant established the Dr. Donald T.L. Byrd Endowed Scholarship Fund at DSU.
Private services will be held for Dr. Byrd in Detroit.

From l-r, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, state Rep. Donald A. Blakey, DSU alumna Flavia Rutkowski; Dr. Dyremple Marsh, dean of the DSU College of Ag and Related Sciences; Wilmington social worker Patrick Adzadu; Aoko Midiwo-Odembo and her husband Kenyan Ambassador Elkanah Odembo; and Dr. Akwais Osei, DSU chair of the Dept. of History, Political Science and Philosophy, get together during the conference.

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Delaware State University was the site Feb. 11 of the Opportunity Africa Conference 2013 hosted by U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, who is also the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
For images from the Opportunity Africa Conference, click on the below photo slideshow followed by more information about the event:
Held in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, the conference was opened by DSU President Harry L. Williams with a welcome address, and DSU’s Dr. Marshall Stevenson and Dr. Michael Casson also served as moderators for two of the workshop sessions.
U.S. Rep. John Carney and three ambassadors – Elkanah Odembo (Kenya), Somduth Soborun (Mauritius) and Eric Goosby (U.S. International HIV/AIDS Relief) – were in attendance. Ambassador Odembo was the morning keynote speaker and Michael Gerson, author and senior advisor of the ONE Campaign to fight extreme poverty and preventable diseases, gave the afternoon keynote address.
Sen. Coons said that Africa is a continent of enormous opportunity for Delaware businesses, faith communities and individuals. He noted that Africa is home to six of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world, creating an important opportunity for American companies to grow and create jobs.
“As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, I am always looking for new ways to connect Delawareans with opportunities in Africa. There is so much we can do together, whether by opening doors to new markets or by connecting local faith groups with service opportunities abroad,” Sen. Coons said.
He added that with such talented faculty and interested students here, hosting this year’s conference at Delaware State University was a great opportunity. “I’m deeply grateful to Dr. Williams and everyone at DSU for their warm hospitality,” Sen. Coons said.
Workshops were held throughout the daylong conference, which included the topics of doing business in Africa, meeting human needs in the continent, Delawareans who impact Africa and careers in Africa. A town hall-style conversation on Africa was also held.

DSU President Harry L. Williams; Jerome Pinkett, Buttonwood Finance Committee chair and DSU alumnus; Vivian Lea, Buttonwood Administrative Council chairperson; and the Rev. Albert Gaither, pastor of Buttonwood United Methodist Church of New Castle and DSU alumnus, Del, hold a display check representing a $5,000 scholarship donation to the University.

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Delaware State University recently received two generous donations to support its scholarship and its community service work with youth.
DSU President Harry L. Williams recently received a $5,000 check on behalf of the University from Buttonwood United Methodist Church in New Castle, Del. to go toward scholarships (see the above photo).
(Back l-r) Audrey Scott-Hynson, JET instructor; from the Roy Klein Foundation, Ed Wilchinski, Dan Simpson, Steve Weldi; (front l-r) Dr. Shelton Rhodes, DSU College of Business dean; Roy Klein Foundation’s Marion Klein and Barbara Rafte; and Lillie Crawford, director of the DSU Delaware Center for Enterprise Development.
The DSU Delaware Center for Enterprise Development’s Junior Entrepreneur Training (JET) Program also recently received a donation of $2,000 from the Roy Klein Education Foundation of Dover. The donation will support the JET Summer Camp in which middle school students from across the state of Delaware learn business principles. During the camp, the students engage in hands-on activities, work in teams to create a mini business, participate in selling their products on market day, and compete in a business plan competition.
The JET Summer Camp – which is in its ninth year – has been financially supported by the Roy Klein Education Foundation in each of the last four years.

The Fraternity/Sorority Plot in the traditional residential halls area of the campus would be beneficiary if DSU can win the Retool Your School campus improvement grant money. Campus official would use the grant money to build a pavilion area on that plot and install new grills.

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Delaware State University, the state’s only historically black institution of higher education, has been announced as a finalist in Home Depot’s Retool Your School campus improvement grant program.
Designed to reinvigorate Historically Black Colleges & Universities, finalists are competing for $225,000 in grants for on-campus improvements and are now asking their communities to help them win.
From Feb. 18 to April 15, DSU supporters can visit www.retoolyourschool.com to vote for the University. Winning schools can receive grants from $10,000 to $50,000. Votes can be cast from an individual once a day.
Home Depot will announce the winners on May 3.
DSU President Harry L. Williams said that this is a great way for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the public to demonstrate Hornet Pride in the University.
“This is a great opportunity for our community to support DSU without spending a dime through the period. Home Depot will announce the winners on May 3,” said DSU President Harry L. Williams. “As you take the time to go online and cast a vote in support of DSU, you will increase our chances to be awarded significant grant money to make sustainable improvements to our campus.”
Each school has identified a major and minor campus improvement project toward which it would use the grant money. DSU’s major project would involve rebuilding its outdoor student social area, including ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant pathways and grill areas. The University’s minor project would add energy-saving window film to multiple building to reduce the campus’ carbon imprint.
DSU is competing against schools from 16 states as well as the District of Columbia.

Dr. David A. Pensak, will talk about how to eliminate fear as an impediment to innovation.
Delaware State University will host a guest lecture by Dr. David A. Pensak, founder of the Pensak Innovation Institute and author of Innovation for Underdogs, at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 7 in parlor C of the Martin Luther King Student Center.
Presented as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer Series of the DSU College of Mathematics, Natural Science and Technology, Dr. Pensak, one of the top innovators of technology in the country, will speak on “Fear is the Biggest Impediment to Innovation.”
The guest lecture is free and open to the public.
Dr. Pensak is a technology innovator, entrepreneur and author who has lectured at over 30 universities, companies, and government agencies a Fellow of the Creative and Innovative Economy Center of the George Washington University Law School. He is currently on the faculty of the University of Delaware Business School and Drexel University College of Medicine (Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine). A Harvard PhD in organic chemistry and computer science, Dr. Pensak started his career at DuPont as a research chemist, directed many R&D projects across a variety of technology fields, and retired as their Chief Computer Scientist. He invented:
A high flow rate filtration system with a new class of membranes to clean up effluent water from abandoned Rocky Mountain mines
A biodegradable additive that mixed with animal manure in agricultural settings causes the fermentation to become aerobic rather than anaerobic, thereby decreasing smell, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, and stabilizing the soil
A new class of concrete protection chemicals for streets and buildings with reduced weathering and pot-hole characteristics
A new kind of spackle for the construction industry that is immediately ready to paint, needs no sanding, and requires just one coat
A very low cost prosthetic hand which is within range of even the poorest developing country
A suite of materials that can be implanted in a periodontal procedure to minimize and/or eliminate gum resection surgery
A new coating for teeth that discourages the bacteria that cause plaque and tooth decay
A new class of textiles which are simultaneously waterproof, fireproof and breathable - at the weight of silk
And developed new technologies in heat storage and dispersal;
Dr. Pensak also directed a project to splice organ specific polypeptides from snake and insect venom to pharmaceuticals to decrease dosage levels and avoid deleterious interactions with unintended organs.
Nevertheless, Dr. Pensak is best known for his software inventions. He invented the first commercially successful Internet firewall, starting-up Raptor Systems to develop the technology, a company now owned by Symantec. Subsequently, he invented an enterprise digital rights security system, starting-up Authentica to develop the technology, a company now owned by EMC. Most recently, he founded Vi Laboratories in Waltham, MA, to develop new anti-piracy detection technologies and reporting systems.
He is presently working on technology innovation projects regarding biotechnology, energy, information technology, and materials. The author of the 2008 book Innovation for Underdogs: How to Make the Leap from What If to Now What, at the University of Pennsylvania he advised the Medical School and has taught technology innovation and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business. He teaches at the University of Delaware Business School, advises the Olin College of Engineering, and has taught workshops regarding technology innovation and entrepreneurship at over 30 universities, companies, and government agencies in the US, Brazil, India, Jordan, Germany, Trinidad, Mexico and Thailand. He is currently writing a new book “Innovation from Evolution to Execution.”

Gustavo Delgado
Delaware State University’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, in conjunction with the U.S. Institute of Peace Public Education Program for Peace Building, will continue its lecture series on “Arab Spring and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution on Feb. 28 and March 21.
The second and third guest lectures – which are free and open to the public – will be held on Feb. 28 and March 21, all at 11 a.m. in the Longwood Auditorium, Bank of American Building (College of Business) on campus.
The guest speaker will be Gustavo Delgado, the research and development chief for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. State Department. Mr. Delgado has also served as the State Department’s director of Strategic Communications, as a senior advisor on humanitarian assistance as well as the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and other posts during his 26-year career at the federal agency.
The following topics will be featured.
Feb. 28 – The different approaches use by the CSO for non-conflict resolution in diverse cultural settings such as Syria (Southwest Asia/Middle East), Burma (East Asia) and Kenya (East Africa).
March 21 – The implications of the recent violence against the United States Embassies/diplomats/citizens in the Islamic world: what the prospects of non-violent resolutions in such contexts.
Previously on Feb. 7, Mr. Delgado held the first session of his guest lecture series, in which he discussed the role of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) in conflict resolution during the Arab Spring and its implications for United State national security.